A Painful Reality
by Infinite Vibrance
Summary: Naruto awoke in a field bathed in stars with a raven looking over him. In this world, there was no more pain. His old life was a fairy tale now. In this new world, Naruto gets to experience the one thing he never truly had. But how long can it last? AU
1. Part One

Another new story? So soon. Why yes, I am insane :). But this story is short, roughly five or six chapters at the most? The sixth will probably be an epilogue thing. Anywho, hope you enjoy this new one C:! Also, follow me on tumblr! Link is on my profile. (: Haha, just made it today ;).

**Warning: This is a YAOI! And, sooner or later, someone's going to get fucked. Strong language, possibly. Pairings are SasuNaru HidanItachi and... yeah, that's it. This is also a warped Au. You shall see what I mean :D. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, every episode Sasuke would be a bastard, but tolerable enough that I don't want to strangle him every time he goes off on revenge o.o He's still a sexy bastard, though. **

Enjoy Part one of A Painful Reality :)!

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality<strong>

**Part One**

_The last thing I remembered was the light…_

The blonde stirred restlessly in his sleep. Every inch – every microfiber – of his body cried out in pain at the simplest of movements. The twitch of a finger sent flames erupting throughout his body. Even trying to move his cracked and bleeding lips were a burden.

_If I could just die right now…_

He felt that silver, bloodstained, link to Death quietly coax him on to the afterlife. He was so close… He could feel something tug and tug for him, to join him on the other side where there was such a thing as paradise.

Another shot of pain…

The wind whistled through the trees, and the clouds began to roll across the sky, hiding the waxing moon from sight. The stars were darkened, and their reassuring lights were shadowed by clouds of despair and misery.

_I'm so close…_

Footsteps crinkled against the grass. One by one, the raven stalked its prey. He was drawn in by the heart-wrenching sobs in the middle of the forest. Some strange feeling, something he knew very well but never wished to acknowledge, drove him forward to the crumpled and beaten body of the boy.

The last sob literally ripped a heartstring.

Hesitantly, the raven crouched down in front of the blonde. Before he could stop himself, his hand was already reaching out to stroke those golden locks that shone so brightly in the dark from the boy's face. When skin touched bruised and bloodied skin, his hand instantly snapped back at the inhumane shriek that escaped the blonde's lips.

The raven's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Obviously the blonde was sensitive to touch, that much was for sure. The only question that hung in the air around the raven was why?

As the clouds rolled by, the moonlight skimmed across the blonde's face, giving the raven a better view of all the cuts, bruises, gashes, and marks that marred the boy's face. His heart lurched, and his stomach tied into knots at the pure expression of pain embedded in the boy's features.

_'I can't leave him out here.'_ He thought as he sat on his haunches, allowing the boy's wails to cease and his body to stop jerking before he made his move. After about several minutes, the boy's cries turned into whimpers and the only movement the blonde was giving out was the gentle – yet somewhat labored – rise and fall of his chest.

Sighing to himself, the raven wondered why in the world he was allowing such a thing as compassion and pity to overwhelm his senses as he scooped the blonde up into his arms. He was surprised to feel how underweight he was; as light as a feather.

He picked up a running pace as he trudged through the grass, determined to find out just what was it about the blonde that allowed such feeble emotions to buzz through his body like this.

+Painful Reality+

_The next thing I remembered was voices…_

"Sasuke… what were you thinking bringing this human here?"

"He's not just any human."

"Is he a mundane then?"

"He's neither."

"So you brought home a street rat?"

Naruto pulled a pillow over his ears to drown out the noise. He was too tired to realize the voices were completely alien to him and that the older one was completely bashing him on the spot. He pulled the covers closer to his body, relishing in the foreign warmth that he could only dream about for years.

It was so strange… this warmth and those voices surrounding him. It was even stranger when he felt fingers dancing through his hair, massaging his scalp to, hopefully, bring him pleasure rather than pain.

_'What a dream…'_

If he could, Naruto would stay in the blissful world his thriving subconscious always dreamed as reality. He'd never open his eyes again if it meant he could truly being ignorantly happy.

"Don't touch him, Sasuke. He could have a disease."

"Itachi, don't you have to go fuck Hidan or something?" the younger raven scowled at his older brother leaning against the doorframe. Itachi was always such a moody bitch after a long mission away from home – and his boyfriend, Hidan.

Smirking, Itachi redid his ponytail so that it rested nicely on his left shoulder. "I have already met up with Hidan." He smiled coyly, "The boy is a beast after three weeks without sex."

"Go away, Itachi." Sasuke bit out, nearly chucking a pillow at his retreating brother. One day, that sort of attitude was going to get Itachi killed either by Sasuke himself, or some rogue ninja with temper problems.

Sighing a huge breath of relief once he was left alone with the blonde, Sasuke took his time to study his face. The boy was obviously _not _a human that much was for sure since his face was scarred with intricate whisker-like tattoos. '_Perhaps he is a descendant of Kyuubi?' _ He thought as he leaned in closer, grimacing at all the dried blood stains he wasn't able to wipe off.

_'No,' _he finally answered himself, pulling and leaning back into his chair, '_a descendent of Kyuubi has an amazing regenerating rate. His wounds would have been healed by now. So… what in the world is he?'_

Just as his last thought finished the blonde stirred in his sleep to release a cute little yawn. Sasuke chuckled despite himself. The whatever-it-was was sort of cute in its way, he supposed.

Naruto yawned once more, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. His mind though, was still clouded by the heavy fog of sleep and lethargic movements until his dazed, blue eyes landed on amused, onyx ones.

The blonde shrieked like a mother fucking banshee out from the deep.

"W-What?" Naruto shifted his head left and right. This wasn't his small, almost closet-like, room he was forced to sleep in every night with the chipping paint on the walls and the dirtied carpets. The warm blankets that covered his waist downwards weren't the old, tattered ones he kept as the tangible link to his parents.

And the person currently raising his eyebrow towards him was most definitely _not _his bastard of an uncle.

The raven cocked an eyebrow, not feeling the least bit phased by such an outburst. Instead, he allowed the boy to get adapt to his surroundings and waited to see how he would react to being placed in a new environment. You could say that Sasuke was treating Naruto as a science experiment, but then again, the blonde was an intriguing specimen to the raven.

"Don't scream," Sasuke softly commanded, "you'll give yourself a headache that way."

Naruto merely blinked in utter stupidity. Who the hell was this guy? And why in the world did he care about Naruto's welfare? Slowly, the blonde's defensive wall start to crack brick by brick, but he was still a little weary of the stranger in front of him.

Trying to readjust himself, Naruto winced slightly at the dull, pin-like, shots of pain that danced along his stomach, his arms, his legs, and his neck area.

The pain was a reminder that these few moments of blissful peace were going to end all too soon.

"W-Where is Uncle?" Naruto fidgeted silently, not even daring to stare the raven in the eye. His hands started to twirl and tug at the blanket wrapped around his legs due to the nervousness running through his veins.

Now it was the raven's turn to be confused. He was still trying to figure out what in the world this boy was, only to come up empty when none of the characteristics matched up with any of the creatures and higher beings his vast knowledge knew of.

Sasuke merely shrugged, "I don't know of any 'Uncle' here. If you're looking for him, he's nowhere to be found."

The raven was stunned to see a small smile of relief grace the blonde's features.

"Oh," Naruto said quietly.

"You seem to be alright if you have the ability to scream like that." Sasuke crossed his ankles and started to toy with the ANBU mask in his hands. "So you must tell me…" he placed the mask on his face and cocked his head to the side, "What in the world are you?"

_The next thing I remembered was the cold steeliness of his voice…_

Naruto flinched at the tone. He was used to people calling him a monster, a freak, a waste of space, but never had someone ever blatantly come out and ask him what he was like he wasn't even a human being to begin with. The blonde would not cry though, he couldn't cry when there would never be anyone there to wipe those tears away.

Instead, Naruto gritted his teeth so hard he thought they were going to snap, and clenched his fists around the blankets. He met he raven's covered eyes with a heavy gaze that he had mastered and defined over the years to obtain the effect of indifference.

"You're one hell of a bastard."

Naruto couldn't see it, but the raven was smirking behind his mask. He found the blonde's wavering emotions somewhat cute. '_Just a second ago he was playing the shy little fox. Now he's cursing to my face. What a strange creature, indeed.'_

"I've been called many things before," Sasuke removed the mask off of his face to show off his devilish smile, "but never have I been called a bastard."

Naruto scowled. Sure, this guy had saved his life – for whatever reason was beyond the blonde's capable thinking – but his prick-like ways were most definitely a turn off. Scoffing, the blonde turned his nose upwards in the opposite direction, refusing to make eye contact with the raven, but still mumbling a weak 'thank you' anyways.

Sasuke merely nodded and decided to tackle phase two of his interrogation. Relaxing his body, the raven instantly gathered a nonchalant air around himself in hopes it would ease the blonde long enough to get some reasonable answers from him.

"So, I'm presuming you have a name?"

Naruto scowl deepened. Was this guy for real? Shaking his head, the blonde propped himself up on his elbows and stared straight back at the stoic raven. "Of course I have a name." He replied haughtily with his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Sasuke raised an amused eyebrow. "Then you won't mind telling me your name, then?"

"Of course I'd mind, you prick!" Naruto yelled, instantly regretting it when a pang of pain rang through out his skull. His bit onto his bottom lip hoping it would drown out the pain. "Sure you saved me life and all but you're acting like a complete bastard!"

The raven titled his head to the side and gave him a cocky smile. "Is being curious about one's affairs make me a bastard?"

The blonde scowled. "Now you're making it sound like I'm the bastard."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and started to toy with his bangs. "I simply want an answer to my question as all."

Naruto sighed, seeing that there was probably no way out of this interrogation. A slight blush stained his cheeks and he cleared his throat a few times, avoiding any unnecessary eye contact with the passive raven.

"It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

><p>Constructive criticism is always welcomed! I'll most likely update this story tomorrow, so keep sending in reviews anyways, haha (:! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr. On there, I'll share some fanfic recs of my personal choosing and fan's choices, updates on my own fanfiction and delays, and simply it's a place to hopefully grow closer to fans? NO! I am not a creep. I just like to make new friends :D.<p>

Till next time... Tomorrow, hopefully!


	2. Part Two

Another day, another chapter of A Painful Reality C: Many thanks to **dominygringa **for reviewing and the add to your favs and alerts, and **alexicia the light of destiny **and **She-catalley **for either adding this to their favs/alerts! I feel so loved, haha 8D.

**Disclaimer: Guys, honestly, I don't own Naruto! I'm sorry D: I own the plot bunnies that gnaw on my skull, though.**

**Warning: We're adventuring... through time! And until the end you'll never know if this is some psychological safe haven Naruto created or actual fantasy... mwahahaha! Take a guess!**

Enjoy :)!

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality <strong>

**Part Two**

_The next thing I remembered was the ticklish summer breeze… _

Naruto sat on the porch swing, an empty lemonade glass in one hand and a manga sprawled against his lap. He was so utterly bored! He blew away a stray blonde hair that was attacking his eyes and sighed when he saw that night was slowly descending and Sasuke _still _wasn't home.

'_That bastard_,_'_ he thought as he picked up his contents and entered the Uchiha mansion. It had been approximately two months since Naruto had entered this strange world where humans trained as skilled ninjas and monsters and beasts co-existed peacefully with everyone. Although to the blonde, it only seemed like a week or two since he had met Sasuke in that star bathed, grassy field.

Naruto placed his empty glass in the sink and stored his manga away for some other time. Sitting on top of the counter, Naruto allowed his mind to wander back to the first month of his arrival. To say things were hectic back then would have been a complete understatement. It had taken our little blonde at least three days to get used to Sasuke's constant prick-like attitude. And another four days after that to be able to get from his room, all the way down to the kitchen and back without getting lost.

Two weeks later and Naruto was ready to tackle communicating with the other people from this world.

The first person he met by chance was Hidan. Normally, Hidan was at the Uchiha mansion everyday since he was Itachi's lover and faithful battle partner. But Naruto was never allowed to leave his room when the man was around. At first the blonde was highly offended. Sure, he was an outsider of sorts, but he was a nice guy!

"Sasuke, let me out of this damn room already!" he cried, banging on his door with his newly healed hand.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and casually leaned against the door on the other side. Seriously, Naruto's threats and yells were mere child's play to the raven. However, it was always the defiant and rebellious side he found himself somewhat attracted to.

"Naruto, we've been over this five times now. Whenever Hidan's over you can't leave your room." He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. "It's merely for your own protection."

"Protection from what?" Naruto cried only to be responded with the sound of Sasuke's footsteps walking away. The blonde pouted and huffed, sliding down the door into Indian style on the floor with his arms crossed against his chest. Now he was insanely curious about this Hidan character. And there was no way in _hell _he was just going to sit there and miss out on anything this new world could offer him.

Smirking deviously, Naruto quickly drew up a map in his head of the Uchiha mansion's third floor. At the end of the hallway was the enormous library filled with books from the different beasts and deities in this world all the way to how to cook the most delicious ramen. Naruto had read that book, and actually done the dish, in less than a day.

Then, right across from his room was Sasuke's. The raven had demanded – more like insisted – that Naruto be roomed somewhere close to him so that if anything were to ever happen he could easily get to Naruto and save his ass from trouble. Although Naruto was highly against it at first, he couldn't help but feel that warm bubble of happiness float through him at the thought that someone actually cared enough for him to put his needs and safety first.

The determined look on his face, and the gentle reassurance a simple hand gesture on the shoulder had Naruto furiously shaking off a blush to return to his plans.

After Sasuke's room leads stairs that go to the second floor which is primarily Itachi's floor since he was an ANBU Captain and apparently needed a whole floor for himself for important ANBU needs. In Naruto's opinion he just thought Itachi loved to live in the lap of luxury and milked it for all it was worth.

"And If I crawl out the window, there's a tree just a few feet away that I could probably jump to." Naruto started to search for his shoes – which were more like sandals but they were still pretty comfy – and once he found them snagged his pocket knife and stuffed that safely away in his pocket.

Just feeling the cool metal instrument in his pants pocket made him feel instantly a lot safer and more confident about what he was going to do. It was a little strange, that such an object could bring about such emotions, but to Naruto his pocketknife was literally his tangible hope that before he felt like it was all he needed to protect himself.

Sasuke, though, had begged to differ.

_The next thing I remembered was his touch._

"Naruto, why do you always carry that weapon around?" the two were walking down the streets of Konoha, enjoying the busy yet somewhat peaceful Saturday afternoon together as they hopped from store to store. Sasuke was highly curious about why Naruto was so on guard all the time that he felt the need to carry such a tool. He felt a little insulted that Naruto didn't trust him enough to protect him as he promised.

Sasuke had one major ego. And it was the type of ego that was easily wounded and would do anything to fix its status.

Naruto just shrugged off the question, more interested in the colorful looking masks on one of the shop windows than answering Sasuke. The raven gritted his teeth, holding back a snappy comment as his annoyance level peaked to new heights.

_Watch your temper, Sasuke. _The raven rolled his shoulders back and let out a deep breath before catching up to the blonde in mid-stride. He hated to beat around the bush, just as much as he hated people who ignored his questions out right. Sasuke abruptly grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him to a nearby alleyway, holding onto him tightly and ignoring his yelling protests as they ran down the alley.

"Sasuke, where are you taking me?" but Sasuke just kept running and running until they reached his destination. He pushed open the hidden door, and ran up the stairs with Naruto being forcibly tagged along.

"Here," Sasuke finally answered, smirking in triumph at the complete look of awe that devoured Naruto's face. _The perfect spot, _he thought when he saw Naruto run up to the edge of the mountain top to peer down at the village below. "This is the Hokage Mountain where we pay tribute to our leaders by carving their faces into the mountain."

"Sort of like Mount Rushmore!" Naruto connected the dots, brimming happily at the connection, only to frown at the confused look he was getting from the raven. "Never mind," he mumbled and plopped down to the ground. "So… why did you bring me here all of a sudden?"

Sasuke sat on the ground gracefully, leaning on the palms on his hands as he stared out into the sunset with the blonde sitting contently by his side. "Well, you never answered my question about that weapon of yours. So I decided a place like this might help you unwind and tell me." He cocked his head to the side, onyx locks falling to perfectly frame his face. "Was I wrong to bring you here?"

Naruto shook his head furiously. A bit of shyness seeping through his body caused him to bite onto his lower lip. "No… you weren't." he smiled sheepishly, "It's just that this seems over the top just to learn something about me."

"It doesn't seem that over the top to me." The raven stared at Naruto with hard midnight eyes before softening them with his grin. "I'd like to learn more about you as all. And if that means I have to take you somewhere to do it, I will."

_Then, I remembered the happiness dancing along with other feelings flowing through my body._

Naruto's body trembled at those light fingers danced across the back of his neck, toying with the end of his hair. Sasuke may be a prick half the time but there were the rare times when Sasuke showed his soft side. Naruto was just lucky that now was one of those times.

The touch felt so foreign to the blonde that he almost winced away from it. When hands touched him, it was to grope and hit, not to caress lovingly and to reassure. When soft words were spoken, they were poisoned with malice and hatred, not with a delicate softness traced with speckles of kindness.

And when eyes bored so deeply into his own pair that he felt like he was going to melt, it meant that he should be trembling with fear rather than from this weird source of pleasure that caused his senses to tingle alive.

Naruto let out a sigh, unconsciously leaning into the comforting touch as his eyes fluttered to a close. His hand reached into his pocket to grab his pocketknife, instantly feeling that wave of comfort wash through him as he gripped onto the metal object. He pulled it out and rolled it in his hands.

"It's not really a weapon…" Naruto spoke softly, "but more like a safety precaution." He sighed once more. "You see, where I come from… well, it wasn't a very nice place. It was basically fight or be beaten to a bloody pulp. I could have been attacked at any moment, so I started carrying this pocketknife along just in case." He shrugged it off like it was some nonchalant thing, or like he didn't just lie through his teeth.

In reality, Naruto was telling the truth, just a fabricated version of one. His eyes drifted closed at the horrible memories that were tugging on his mind. The nights he would spend curled in the corner trembling, body covered with bruises and blood stains, completely naked to the world, with his hands outstretched and his pocketknife gripped tightly in his hand.

He would scream and scream, hoping that vile person would just leave him alone. He would scream till his voice went raw. He would tremble and cry and pray to God that the torment would finally be over…

And for the meanwhile… it was.

Naruto didn't know it then, but silent tears were falling from his closed eyes as the memories swarmed in his mind like muddy water. Just then, warm and strong arms surrounded his torso and enveloped with another foreign feeling that he couldn't place. Sasuke buried his face into the crook of Naruto's neck and held him tightly. For now, he'd allow Naruto to play him as the fool, because he knew there was more to Naruto's explanation than meets the eye.

But for now, Naruto needed the comfort, Sasuke could see that much, and held onto the blonde until the stars came to dance in the sky.

_I remember the feeling of his touch…_

Naruto smiled at the pocketknife as he balanced himself on the biggest branch of the tree. He was currently staring through the massive window that would allow him access into the second floor.

"Alright, Uzumaki, all you have to do is swing from this branch with enough force to knock open the window." Honestly, the plan seemed more real in his head than it did in actuality. But the blonde was a trooper. Getting himself ready for the jump, Naruto gripped tightly onto the branch, propelling his body back and forth to gain momentum before launching himself off and perfectly knocking the window open.

_And then I remembered the moans._

What Naruto walked in on next would forever be engrained in his mind.

"You're so fucking tight, Itachi!" the voice groaned as he shoved his cock right into the hilt of Itachi's entrance. Drowning himself in the enormous waves of pleasure that rocked through his body.

Itachi met the man's movements with every thrust, raising his hips to dig that delicious cock further and further into his body. Every time his prostrate was struck and every time Itachi threw his head back, eyes rolled, and moaned in complete pleasure.

Naruto nearly jumped out the window.

"Dobe, I told you not to leave your room." Sasuke suddenly appeared in a hushed whisper. He placed one nimble finger against his lips to notion the blonde to be silent or else they'd be disrupting their 'activities'.

After that embarrassing moment, Naruto was dragged back to his room where he formally met Hidan, Itachi's lover. However, neither Itachi nor Hidan let on that they noticed Naruto the minute he swung in through the window. The two just liked the thought of having an audience view them once in a while.

Naruto made it a habit to not go against Sasuke's orders unless they were truly ridiculous.

* * *

><p>I jumped around a little... hope it wasn't <em>too <em>confusing for anyone, haha... I have a habit of confusing people in daily situations v.v! Anywho! Don't forget to review, please! And check out my tumblr if you already haven't!

Till tomorrow? Maybe? Hopefully... o.o


	3. Part Three

Another day... another chapter ;). Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and or added this to their favs and alerts. Many thanks (: This chapter was, by far, one of my favorite to write. You'll see why ;D.

**Disclaimer: Yeaah, sure, of course I own Nar-gets shot-**

**Warning: Enter at your own risk...**

Enjoy :)!

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality<strong>

**Part Three**

_The next thing I remembered was that painful look in his eyes._

Naruto's stomach started to growl in protest from the lack of attention. "I wonder if they have any ramen?" although Naruto knew that question loud and clear. If he really wanted that delicious substance he'd have to go into town and go to the restaurant himself. "Eh," he said with a sigh as he hopped off the table, "might as well find some money and go out then."

After searching for a few spare yen from the couch, and Sasuke's respective wallet, Naruto was ready to go out for the night. He walked through the backyard, enjoying the complete difference in scenery. Itachi had told him once that from all his trips around the region he always had to bring something back from his missions. So in the end it turned out with the North, East, West, and South areas of the mansion decorated like some other country.

Right now, Naruto was walking through the Wave Country. Leading from the porch was a wide boardwalk with a humongous pond underneath it. To the far right was a huge waterfall that the blonde had yet to explore but wanted to do someday.

Depending on how many days left he had in this world…

He was nearly out of the gate when Sasuke appeared, worn out and seriously pissed off, in all his stoic glory.

"Hey, Sasuke, welcome back!" Naruto grinned happily. It was always better to eat ramen with a friend rather than all by yourself. It gives you a chance to mooch more money off of them that way. "How did your mission go?"

Sasuke ran a tired hand through his hair. Normally he'd be over the moon – on the inside – when Naruto greeted him with such a carefree and happy look. He loved seeing Naruto happy, because in someway it made his heart skip a beat and one of those unusual smiles came out to play on his lips.

But tonight was a totally different story.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke completely ignored the question, his eyes steeling over as he flipped his ANBU mask to the back of his head.

"Oh, well, I was planning to go out to eat tonight. Wanna come with me?"

The raven stared long and hard. For a moment, Naruto thought that Sasuke was having some inner battle between himself on whether or not to take up the offer. But that only lasted a few seconds before he saw that usual smirk on his face.

"Fine, but you're paying for the meal."

Naruto smirked right back, "That's okay. This is your money anyways."

_I remember the way the truth hit like a ton of bricks._

"No. More. Dobe!" Sasuke hissed, trying to pry the half empty bowl of ramen from Naruto's fingers but with no avail. For God's sake Sasuke had been training as a ninja since he could walk yet his strength wasn't even close to comparison to Naruto's.

"Just let me finish this last bowl!" Naruto said in between slurps. It felt like absolute ages since the blonde had tasted such good food! Sure, the Uchiha's mansion was stored with food now that they had an extra member in the house, but other than that nothing they had could make Naruto's stomach whir in anticipation like the wonderful taste of ramen could.

"That's what you said about the last five bowls you had!" Sasuke clenched his fists, feeling the electricity of his anger flow through his palms before his eyes shot open. No, he wouldn't use that technique just because of his horrible temper problems.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sasuke exhaled a breath or two before calming down. "Alright, fine, whatever just finish the bowl so we can go already."

Naruto slurped down an extremely long noodle, a bit of the soup splattering on his cheek. "We're going somewhere?" he asked as he doused his last bowl, sighing contently as the contents of the meal hit his stomach with a warm thud.

Sasuke just smirked, "Did I not just point that out, Dobe?"

"Oi, who said you could adopt that name for me anyways, Teme?"

The raven shrugged, paying for both their meals with the money Naruto had and hopped off the stool. He peered over his shoulder and smirked, "About the same time you decided to was a smart idea to run with a kunai in your hands down the stairs." His smirk increased when he saw that adorable pout mar his face, and a reasonable blush adorn those whiskered cheeks.

"I thought we made a promise to never bring that up again!" Naruto whined as he caught up to Sasuke's pace in a run. The raven sure had some long legs on him.

"I don't ever remember making that promise, Naruto." The raven chuckled, feeling all the tension from earlier slip away. Mind you, he was still chewing on the inside of his cheek, and his hands that were stuffed in his pockets were clenching and unclenching into fists, but other than that he felt slightly at ease around the blonde.

_'I don't think I've ever felt this calm around anyone before.' _He thought as he took a chance to glance at the blonde. The cool night air was whipping the blonde's hair every which way, and it was highly enjoyable to see Naruto pout and whine as he tried to swat his hair away. Oh what Sasuke would give to be able to run his fingers through those golden tresses, to get tangled up in that hair during a passionate… kiss?

_'I want to kiss him?' _His eyes trained on those plump red lips that Naruto would abuse anytime he had to think extremely hard. He thought of how much he wished to dig his own teeth into those lips and suck and pull until he had the blonde pleading for mercy. Sasuke shook his head to dispel such thoughts, currently fighting down that blush that was attempting to attack him at full force.

_'I cannot fall for him. I will not fall for him. I cannot.' _He told himself over and over again. Naruto wasn't from this world. He was an outsider, an anomaly that piqued his interest. Or so the raven wanted to believe, but he couldn't stop those pesky feelings that always surfaced whenever the blonde was around.

_'But I can't fall for him… Not when he'll soon be leaving…'_

Naruto raised an eyebrow – another skill he obtained from the raven – at Sasuke's recent silence. Obviously something was eating at the raven's mind from the way he walked with tense movements and a serious expression on his face. Naruto frowned. He hated seeing Sasuke so out of it. It made him want to do something to change that frown into a smile.

An idea popped into his head, and a good one at that, as he stopped in mid-walk. He giggled when he saw that Sasuke just kept on going and going, not even noticing the blonde's lack of presence. Naruto allowed at least a decent amount of space between them before he bolted from his spot and ran up to hug the raven from behind.

Sasuke was caught by the surprise with such force that both boys were knocked to the ground in a thud. The wind was knocked out of him, and he nearly flipped the blonde over and pinned him down until he caught that infectious and lively smile that he had grown so accustomed to in the past months.

"Smile, Teme." Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he started to tickle the raven's sides. "A frown causes wrinkles and you're too young for that!"

Sasuke laughed. Not from the tickling. Oh no, those fingers sent electric sparks up and down his spine. What he was laughing from was the complete bliss that soared through him whenever Naruto would say that ridiculous nickname. It felt like he was on cloud nine, and for a moment all his worries had drowned out in the laughter that danced along in the night.

"Thank you." Naruto said quietly into the night.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why are you thanking me?"

Naruto sighed and rested his head on Sasuke's chest. A few months ago he was so afraid of such contact, but now it felt right to be touching the raven like this. "For not leaving me alone back there…"

Sasuke's arms wrapped around Naruto's lower back and hugged him tightly. He didn't want to let go of the blonde. He wanted Naruto to stay with him in this world forever. Where they could laugh and be happy. And where the blonde could never experience the pain he felt upon entering this world ever again.

But their happiness was very short lived…

_I remember that face that looked exactly like mine. _

"I've brought him, Yondaime." Sasuke bowed respectfully, concealing his voice of any emotion as he raised his head to stare face to face with his Hokage.

"No need to act like a robot, Sasuke." The Yondaime chuckled and walked around his desk to lean on the front of it. He cocked his head to the side, his golden locks falling to frame his face, his blue eyes dancing with amusement, as he eyed the blonde look a like that was giving him the 'fish look.'

"Sorry," Sasuke replied almost sheepishly.

Naruto was absolutely astounded. If he thought he was in a totally different world before, his mind practically exploded at the older look alike in front of him. There was no way those two couldn't have been somewhat related, or if the world he was in now somehow had an alternate copy of him.

Either way, Naruto was pretty fucking speechless.

"Is this the boy who you couldn't stop talking about, Sasuke?" The Yondaime smirked when he saw blushes erupt on both boys face. How adorable. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki." He extended his hand for the boy to shake, "I am Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of this village."

"Whoa! I never thought I'd be able to meet you! It's kind of freaky, huh? I mean, we both look a lot a like! It's sort of like you're my older brother or something!" Naruto nearly squealed with excitement as he gripped the older man's hand. He had always wanted an older brother. Someone he could depend on to protect him from the ferocities of the outside world.

The only person he ever knew that came closer to be called a brother, died.

Minato's blue eyes flashed a bit of sadness that only last for a few minutes while he gripped his look a like's hand. "Right… brothers." He muttered quietly before smiling brightly and ruffling Naruto's hair. "Outsider or not, I welcome you with open arms into my village and I will assist you in anyway possible. Now then, if you will, I did not have Sasuke bring you here just to meet you. Please do take a seat." The Yondaime's face turned serious as he walked back to his chair, his chin propped on his knuckles as he stared at his fellow ninja and look alike square in the eyes. "We have a lot to discuss."

_And then Reality hit…_

"As Sasuke has told me, you have no recollection of what happened before you arrived in this world, correct?"

Naruto fidgeted in his seat. It felt like someone had jabbed him underneath a microscope to be dissected and probed for examination. He chewed on his lower lip until he thought he was drawing blonde under the heavy gaze of both the Yondaime and Sasuke. What he told them was mostly the truth… When he woke up he really had no idea how he had gotten there in the first place. But when those first few spikes of pain erupted throughout his body, he instantly remembered.

He squinted his eyes shut, trying to block the painful memories as his body broke out into shivers. Naruto had wanted to tell Sasuke sooner or later about his life prior to arriving here; he just never got around to doing it. Either the ninja was out for a long mission, or he was trying to help the blonde become more accustomed to the new world he was in. Overall, Naruto's hidden past had stayed hidden under layers and layers of dirt until this very moment.

Yet just thinking about his past made Naruto want to curl up into a tiny ball…

Sasuke's whole body cringed when he saw those dusky blue eyes tinted with pain. He wanted so desperately to just pull Naruto into his arms and hide him away from all his pains and troubles. But what he couldn't wrap his mind around was how distant he felt from the blonde although the two had grown primarily close over the past couple of months. He had tried to ask Naruto about his past, only to come up with a shrug and the adverting of blue eyes whenever the question popped up.

After that, Sasuke had dropped the question completely. But the curiosity was still there, always haunting his mind.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Minato looked at the blonde with compassion in his eyes. The sudden change of emotions didn't slip past the Fourth Hokage. Obviously there was more to the blonde than what he could decipher at the moment, but he learned from years of experience that you should never push anyone further than needed. And Naruto seemed like the person that would only talk when ready.

Clearing his throat, Minato flashed the blonde a small smile. "Alright, we'll safely assume that you awoke with no memories of how you arrived here. But, I would like to know if you have any intentions of leaving here."

"Leaving?" Naruto's voice piped up at the word. Never had the word even _crossed _his mind while he was here. He actually had hoped that, if this was some sort of dream, to never wake up and just live here with Sasuke and Itachi for the rest of his life. He shook his head furiously, his golden locks flying every which way. "No, I never really thought of going…"

"I see…" Minato smiled calmly and allowed his bangs to fall around his face. "That's good to hear, but what of your family, Naruto? Wouldn't they miss you if you stayed away for too long?"

"Parents?" Naruto's tone of voice dripped with mockery. "You mean the two people who dumped me in a box to rot in Hell with a bastard of an uncle?" the blonde's voice started to escalate higher and higher as his anger flooded through his veins. The thought of his parents always sent his adrenaline pumping in all the wrong ways. He had already given up on the fact that there were people out there that were looking for him, waiting for him to come back, after all those birthdays he had spent alone in a bloody corner awaiting for the day to be over.

Both Minato's and Sasuke's eyes jumped forward at the cruel intensity in the blonde's voice. Sasuke's even more so because the only time Naruto ever allowed such hatred to enter his words was when the raven was doing something that annoyed the daylights out of him. But even then the hatred was child-like and barely anything to take notice about.

These words though, that were directed toward the two beings that had brought the blonde into this word held such malice that Sasuke nearly felt his heart freeze from the iciness.

The Yondaime let out a labored sigh, trying to piece together his thoughts and words before he spoke. He glanced up from behind his bangs at the blonde look alike who still didn't seem unfazed by such an outburst. Either Naruto just didn't care, or he was so fired up that he didn't feel any self-consciousness from his statement.

"Those are very strong feelings to have, Naruto…" Minato started out slowly, "But I must say that all parents have a reason for their actions. Perhaps there was a foundation of love behind all of this."

Naruto's eyes steeled over with all his pent up hatred and fury. "Is Love what you call leaving your only son to the mercy of your abusive Uncle? If so, then oh yes… there was _definitely _a lot of 'Love' in their actions."

_The next thing I remembered was the comfort of his voice._

The blonde sighed as he idly swung his legs back and forth on the porch swing, completely lost in his own world. He had never expected to create such an outburst like that, especially in front of the Yondaime.

_Way to go, Uzumaki. _Naruto let out a low sigh as he watched the evening sky begin to mix with the hazy purple of oncoming nightfall. He had been sitting here for hours, blocking memories and wincing at words he wished he had never spoken. He was more or less also trying to avoid the raven who he knew would ask him a million and one questions for his actions today. Naruto barely had the resolve at the moment to answer one question, so he escaped into hiding.

"Have you ever noticed that when you're lost in thought you gain cute little wrinkles above your eyebrows?"

"Itachi?" Naruto leaned his head back to look up at the smirking older raven above him. Oh well, Itachi would be better to talk to at the moment than Sasuke in the blonde's opinion.

"Who else would it be?" Itachi scoffed and placed himself besides Naruto on the swing. "I heard about what happened today. I must admit, I'm a tad bit surprised."

"Was I really that bad…?" Naruto couldn't bear to look into those crimson eyes and forced his own irises to stare at the wooden floor.

"Not bad, per say. It was more like astounding – in a good way, of course."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, highly confused by Itachi's choice of words. Sure, the blonde hadn't said anything insulting to the Yondaime, but his tone of voice and actions towards him were highly disrespectful. Something Sasuke had chewed him out on before storming off somewhere. That's why Naruto was sitting on the porch swing by himself.

"How is it astounding? I completely blew up on the Hokage! What if he didn't smile it off and decided to kill me right there and then?" Naruto dropped his face into his hands and groaned at his inability to control his emotions. "I'm so screwed…"

The older raven chuckled. He was debating right now if he should allow Naruto to wallow in his despair for a few more minutes, say something completely unreal to throw the blonde off even more. After a few seconds of going over the pros and cons, Itachi decided to give Naruto some much needed leeway and settled on neither of his first options.

Instead he decided to be fairly civil and try to cheer the blonde up.

"You're worrying yourself over nothing, Naruto. If the Hokage was truly upset with your lack of control, he would have issued Sasuke and I to put you on lockdown until further notice." Alright, Itachi… maybe cheering people up isn't one of your better skills.

"Thanks, Itachi. You make me feel _so _much better." sarcasm dripped heavily off of Naruto's words as he idly kicked his feet back and forth.

"I try," Itachi smirked, completely ignoring the bit of sarcasm. The older raven sat himself down on the swing next to Naruto's and started to kick up tiny clouds of dirt. They sat there on the swingsets, soaking up the golden rays of the evening before Itachi finally broke the silence. "So what made you snap?"

Oh Itachi... always the gentlest when stepping on a self-destructive topic.

The blonde's grip tightened around the chains holding the swing's seat up. He had steeled himself, prepared, rehearsed every line for when someone (hopefully Sasuke) would ask him that same question. And, after awhile, he thought he had come up with the perfect answer. A long-winded, but heart-jarring and tear-producing story of his past before he got to this world. Unfortunately, all those delicate words and fabricated sentences had been wiped clean from his memory. Now he was gaping like a fish.

Smirking, Itachi titled his head back to gaze at the mixing oranges and yellows of a summer sky. "Won't tell me, huh? You don't have to push your self. It was a stretch in itself to get you to open up to me." he smiled warmly as he saw the hurt and guilt cross of Naruto's face. Leaning over, he brushed a feather's kiss on the blonde's temple. "Now don't look like that; you're face will freeze that way. I expected this, more or less, and I understand. That's why I brought someone here who you'd probably feel more comfortable opening up to..."

As if by magic—which really wouldn't be too surprising considering the world Naruto had fell into—Sasuke appeared. Fists shoved deep into the tunnels of his pockets, eyes adverted to the side out of embarrassment, and a slight scowl marred his face as he walked towards Naruto.

"You missed dinner, Dobe." Sasuke was all sorts of smooth if you haven't noticed.

Itachi groaned silently and rubbed his temples at his brother's lack of tact for anything dealing with human's emotions. "This isn't how we rehearsed it, Otouto."

"Neither was that kiss!" Sasuke shot an accusing finger towards his nonchalant-looking brother. Jealously was pumping wildly through his veins and Sasuke didn't even know _why _yet. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Itachi smirked, "Jealous I got to kiss him first, Otouto?"

Sasuke was literally fuming, smoke rising out from his ears, he was holding back every gyrating impulse to pounce his brother and knock him senseless. He opened his mouth, prepared to disagree on so many levels when the sound of soft, sweet giggles floated around the air.

Naruto had his head thrown back, chest heaving in puffs, as the laughter trickled from his lips and painted his whiskered cheeks in a rosy hue. Bubbles of delight were floating up, up, up in his stomach at the new feeling of actually being… wanted, in a sense. No one had ever really taken the time, or the energy, to care for him. To fuss over him in the way the Uchiha brothers were and it made him extremely giddy to know that they showed he at least had _some _space in their hearts.

Which meant a lot considering the Uchiha brothers weren't necessarily known for their kindness.

"What's so funny?" the older raven folded his arms across his chest, a trimmed eyebrow arched high in the air.

Gasps of air escaped his mouth as Naruto tried to calm himself. "It's just… it's nice, you know? I've never been the object of someone's jealousy before. It's weird but… in a good way."

Sasuke and Itachi shared glances. Now their curiosity had inflamed even higher…

"Come on," the younger raven grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him off the swing. He was tugging the blonde along the dirt path up to their spot. He needed to know everything about Naruto. To his slightest fears to the things that made him tick, smile, joyful. Naruto was the puzzle he couldn't figure out until the missing puzzle piece allowed itself to be found. The image was clearer, the lines becoming sharpening, and Sasuke thought he could see every, little detail about Naruto...

"Where are you taking me, Teme Sasuke was walking pretty fast and Naruto, more than once, was stumbling along the way.

Sasuke turned his head to look back at the flushing blonde and smirked, "Our spot."

_Then, I remembered the moment when the key unlocked everything... _

They sat with their knees touching and their hands still clasped, but not intertwined. The sun was melding behind the giant rock formation, blending the evening colors into a whirlpool of oranges and reds. Words, they needed to be said though neither boy could think of the sentences and letters to form. Silence was their companion resting heavily on their shoulders. It dared them to break it.

Finally, Sasuke spoke.

"Back when I was little, I was the biggest brat around." He didn't know _why _he had started out that way, or even if this train was going to go anywhere. It just… fabricated on his tongue and flew out of his mouth before he could even take them back.

"Can't say anything's different now," Naruto cracked a smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, scoffing at Naruto's immature jab. "I thought I was better than everyone else in my class. I purposefully alienated myself from the group, too. 'No one is as good as me,' I thought. 'So they don't deserve to be near me.' I learned, though, that I needed people around me if I ever wanted to be successful. I wasn't very open, but I became at least somewhat tolerable to be around."

"Why are you telling me this…?" the words blurted out of his mouth and Naruto quickly looked ashamed, stammering over his sentences, "I-I uh, I mean. Not that I don't mind you being so open to me. Really," he kicked his feet back and forth, back and forth, "but… why?"

The raven merely shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "I just felt like sharing that. Naruto, I trust you. So I don't mind sharing the little details about me that not many people know."

Subtly, Sasuke was trying to push open that envelope, the final door, slide in the key, and let Naruto know he could truly open up to him. Sasuke had already vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to make Naruto happy—to protect him from all the sadness and darkness that still lingered in that pure heart of his… He squeezed Naruto's hand a little tighter, and with his other hand brushed a few strands of blonde hair from those beautiful, blue eyes.

"M-My parents… left me on my uncle's doorstep when I was just a baby." Emptiness. It lingered in Naruto's words, leaving a horrible sickening feeling in the pit of his gut. The reality hit him hard and fast. Right I his heart where he thought was already steeled and numbed to the _real _life. "I never knew them, and honestly I don't think I want to know them. My uncle was an alcoholic, though he managed to keep his intake low when I was a kid. Then one day… he just snapped. I think it's because he lost his job that day, but when he came back it was around one in the morning and he was _pissed_. He called my name, slurred and angry. I was scared at first, but I went outside my room and answered anyways. I remember walking down those steps… my stomach vaulting up to my throat, as I got closer to him.

When I was at the bottom of the steps he grabbed me by the hair and threw me to the ground—hard. That was my first beating from him, but not my last. He found out that beating me up was a _wonderful _stress relief and would use me as his personal punching bag. Day in and day out my body had the word 'Pain' littered all over it in the form of bruises and scars that I don't think will ever disappear…"

To prove his point, Naruto rolled up his sleeve and showed the darkened bruise that went from his wrist and snaked up to his elbow. "That's from the stove." Naruto grimaced. His skin relieved the burning he had experienced so many years ago. Sasuke's fingers gently stroked the burn and Naruto instantly felt the heat slipping away… "Over the years his beatings became spaced out. One week he would leave the house and never come back until Sunday night. Other weeks I wouldn't be so lucky. I remember one night he had thrown me out of the house _naked _to suffer the freezing cold for my 'back talk' and wouldn't let me in no matter how much I begged. I was ten, I think. Nearly died of Hypothermia too."

"That's why you carry a pocketknife with you…" Somehow, someway, Sasuke's arm snaked around Naruto's waist and his hand was now resting comfortably on Naruto's hip. Closeness, perfect comfort, that's how their bodies perceived it as Naruto instinctively moved in closer for more warmth. "Did your uncle… _touch _you?" the question burned on his tongue and made Sasuke's blood boil at even the _prospect _of such a heinous thing happening. Optimistically, he thought that Naruto's uncle would _never _touch him that way. The boundary line of morality couldn't be _that _blurred…

Naruto's silence spoke heavenly volumes.

"I'm going to kill him!" Sasuke seethed. His hands were clenched in fists and murder glowed heavily in his eyes. "That fucking bastard will taste the wrath of my blade!"

Blue eyes stared up at him sadly as Naruto slowly shook his head, a small smile teasing his lips. "Don't. It's… You can't… I've tried so many times. And every time I stop myself because I _know _it isn't right. That's not me. I would be stooping down to his level if I just killed him." Naruto placed his head on Sasuke's shoulder a little awkwardly, it was an impulse, really, to get as close to the raven as he possibly could. Sasuke wasn't showing any adversity to it. In honesty he was _encouraging _the affection.

Nimble fingers twisted and swam through spikey golden locks that had grown a few inches longer over the past few months. "You're never going back there…" Sasuke whispered darkly, squeezing Naruto just a little bit tighter. "I won't let you go back there. Not back to that place…"

The blonde chuckled slightly, his heart growing warming and bleeding with emotion he couldn't really describe… "Leaving this place was the farthest thing from my mind, Teme. So you don't have to worry about that."

"Good. I don't think I could handle you leaving my side." An uncharacteristic blush scribbled across his face. _When in the world did I get so cheesy? _And then he realized something… He had changed. It wasn't a small one, but it wasn't exponentially huge either. Sasuke would have never put this much time and energy into another human being if they weren't Naruto. His heart never constricted painfully at the thought of someone touching or doing sexually immoral things unless it was _Naruto_ the acts were being done to. He never had this strong urge to go out of his way to protect another person, to make them _smile_ and Sasuke had no idea why. The foreign feeling was causing his heart to go insane, thumping erratically against his chest as he stared down at Naruto's face; memorizing every line, curve, and dip until they were firmly imprinted in his mind.

Naruto's grin had eaten half his face by now as he hugged the raven tightly, the same foreign emotion that was rampaging through Sasuke was attacking Naruto as well. "You're such a sweet guy, Sasuke!"

"Shut up, Dobe. You're pushing your lucky _heavily_ right now."

"Oh please. What are you going to do to me, huh?"

"… I'll kiss you."

"Yeah, right. Why don't you try—Wait… what did you say?"

"I said… I'll kiss you."

"W-Why?" Naruto was the book definition of flabbergasted right now as he tried to read Sasuke's intentions… he came up depressingly empty.

Sasuke shrugged, hoping to play off indifferent. It was failing. "Itachi kissed you."

"Aw, you're still jealous!"

"I am not!"

Naruto cackled and poked the raven's cheek. "You so are! Admit it, Teme! You're soo jealous Itachi got to kiss me and you didn't."

"It wasn't even on the lips!" Sasuke retorted, slapping that offending finger from his face. "So why would I be jealous?"

"If you weren't jealous then you wouldn't have brought it up." Oh, Naruto was _good_.

Folding his arms across his chest, Sasuke silently fumed. He knew he was jealous. It was so obvious to him the minute he saw his older brother kiss Naruto. He had wanted to punch the living daylights out of Itachi—though such a thing was a rather comment thought, this time he thought he actually would do it. He took a sidelong glance, "Would you let me kiss you…?"

A little off guard by the question, honestly Naruto thought Sasuke would have just kissed him already and be done with it, Naruto answered in a quiet voice. "I… wouldn't mind. Though, I suck at kissing."

"Lips still a virgin?" You wouldn't even have to see Sasuke's smirk, it sang loudly through his words.

"You're such a bastard!" a punch delivered to the shoulder followed shortly afterwards.

"So can I kiss you or no?" Sasuke was leaning closer and closer to the blonde's lips…

The distance between them was growing shorter and shorter…

"Y-You're already leaning in…" Naruto's hands were placed firmly against Sasuke's chest. They thumped and pulsated, moving to the steady tempo of the raven's pounding heartbeat. '_So loud...' _he thought idly as his own heartbeat was amplified in his ears tenfold.

His breath hitched in his throat, Sasuke's lips were only a few inches away…

Strong arms were wrapped around the blonde's waist. Onyx and blue eyes fluttered to a close as the inevitable dragged itself closer and closer…

Timid lips touched each other. They shyly pressed together, neither one knowing how far nor how slow they should take the interaction. Time seemed to stop. The world tipped off balance. Pulses raced erratically and the only thing either boy could think of was…

_Wow. _

They pulled back synchronized, faces flushed and lips red and slick from their kiss. Naruto's eyes fluttered open and watery blue clashed with piercing onyx. Before he could speak Sasuke pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, a gesture he returned without any hesitation. Clutched in his arms, Naruto felt his heart soar just a little higher…

He didn't know if they were still friends or if this kiss had sent them traveling on a road with no turning back. Naruto didn't know what he wanted from this kiss at the moment, but what he _did _know was that he never wanted to leave this world or Sasuke's side. He would be content simply staying on this rocky platform for the rest of his life as long as Sasuke was there with him.

"Great first kiss, huh?" The raven could never resist making a jab…

Naruto shook his head wildly and smirked, "You're one hell of a bastard, Sasuke."

* * *

><p>HA! You all probably thought I was going to give you sex... That's two chapters away if I planned this correctly (; Lmfaao. I'm such a spoilerrr. Anywho! Review, please! I'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions, we're only three more chapters away till the end, you know :).<p> 


	4. Part Four

Yet another day, yet another chapter. Only two more to go :).

**Disclaimer: Lovely humans, I do not own Naruto. We can always dream though, right?**

**Warning: I'm an evil person, I am. Mwahaha...ha. And this chapter is set about two weeks later.**

Enjoy! (:

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality <strong>

**Part Four**

_The next thing I remembered was the way he'd always hold me so tightly… _

"You two are absolutely sickening to watch," Itachi scowled at the obnoxious displays of affection both his brother and Naruto had no qualms about sharing, especially so early on a Saturday morning when he finally had a day off from missions.

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances—eyes speaking the words that they dared to not speak—and smirked simultaneously. "Don't be jealous," Naruto cooed, reaching over the table to pinch one of Itachi's cheeks. If anyone else even dared to do such an act they would have been killed. Immediately. "I love you too! It's just I love Sasuke a little more."

"And he always will," the raven nodded, a victorious smirk on his face. Two weeks of excited romance. Fourteen days since they finally confessed their feelings. Not like Sasuke was keeping track of that, or anything—it was just coincidence, he swears—but the moment when they unanimously declared that they both harbored romantic notions for one another, Sasuke had felt like he was on cloud nine. Nothing could bring him down because Naruto was his anchor. He never wanted to let him go, not now, not ever.

Itachi scoffed, holding back the urge to spew the contents all over the table. Sure, he was being a little overdramatic, but you have to understand that his stomach couldn't handle seeing tongue being shoved, hands groping, and moans floating so early in the morning. If it were _he _though with Hidan doing those things… then it would be an entirely different story. But it's not. So he's adopted the title of Drama Queen.

"I was so close to having him too," he mock pouted.

"Don't you have to go and fuck Hidan or something?" Sasuke asked, feeding Naruto a spoon of cereal. Whether or not he was doing that to purposefully make Itachi's stomach turn was unknown, but rather likely.

Smirking, Itachi reclined back in his chair. "Can't say I'm in a rush. Hidan's useless to me when he hasn't gotten his twelve hours of beauty sleep. So for now, I'm content wasting the day away… having the contents of my breakfast threatening to come back up again."

"Oh just go already, Itachi!" Naruto threw his spoon at the older raven that dodged it effortlessly. The poor utensil hit the floor with a soft clatter. "I know you don't wanna be here so just leave."

"You are so cruel to me now that you've gotten hitched to my otouto. He must be rubbing off on you… in more ways than one."

"Itachi, I will personally rip that smirk off of your face if you don't leave." Sasuke threatened.

"Fine, fine, I'll go." Raising his hands in mock surrender, Itachi got up from the table and headed for the living room. "Oh, and while I'm gone don't even think about taking Naruto on the table. We eat breakfast off that thing and I'd rather not have the memory of your action burned on the tabletop."

Itachi was quick to walk out of the kitchen or else the knife thrown and lodged into the doorframe would have struck his head.

"You're so cute when you get all flared up," Naruto grinned wildly and placed a chaste kiss on the raven's frowning lips.

Sasuke's frown turned upside down as he returned the kiss, electricity jumping through every nerve strand. "So, what did you have in mind today?" he asked idly. His fingers had taken the habit of running and twisting themselves into Naruto's growing hair. '_He looks more and more like the Yondaime as the months go by…' _

Naruto shrugged, "I don't really know… Wait! I just got an idea. You know how I've been asking you to train me?"

"More like bugging me," the raven teased.

"Oh shush," Naruto waved the tease away with his hand. "Anyways, I was wondering if we could do that today. I've always thought it'd be cool to be a ninja and, you know, go on missions with you and stuff."

"Missions, huh?" Sasuke pondered on the thought for a few minutes. The idea sounded rather nice, though it would take a lifetime just to get it done. And it was so out of reach too considering the fact that Naruto could disappear any day—'_No, he's not going to disappear. He's going to stay here, with me, forever.' _"I wouldn't want you getting hurt, though," he said, masking his darkening thoughts as he buried his face in the crook of Naruto's neck.

"I won't get hurt if you train me. I know being a ninja won't happen after nightfall but… it was a nice idea."

It was a very nice idea. One that had traveled through Sasuke's mind more than once, but he never acted upon it simply because he hadn't seen Naruto so animated about the topic until today. Things could always change, though…

"It is… All right, I'll train you then. We can use today as a trial run. If you like it, we'll continue every day for three hours after sunset. If not, then we can waste time doing other things like cuddling, or kissing… or cuddling and kissing," Sasuke finished with a lazy grin.

"Who knew you could be so affectionate?" Naruto giggled as Sasuke peppered kisses along his neck, down to his exposed collarbone, then right back up when their lips met.

"You bring this out of me," mumbling, Sasuke clung onto Naruto's body, too comfortable to really move.

Naruto thought his heart was going to explode. It was beating pretty loudly; obnoxiously. Too bad it'll stop, soon…

Once Reality hits.

+Painful Reality+

_I remembered __the joyful explosion of colors and sounds…_

It was late in the afternoon, so the blonde and the raven decided a day in town would be a nice little date before they started training. Hands intertwined, Naruto was pulling Sasuke's arm literally out of its socket as they walked through the crowded streets of Konoha. Colors littered the windows of various stores, certainly a gimmick to draw people in.

"Let's go into this store!"

"That's a toy store, Naruto."

"Duh! We gotta go inside!"

Sasuke sighed. He was no match against Naruto sometimes. _He's cute, though. So that's a plus. _Bells chimed as they entered into the brightly lit store. Children were running havoc everywhere. Naruto's eyes sparkled like a child on Christmas as he zigzagged and maneuvered through the store. They stopped by the mask section first. Masks of all varieties, animals, and human expressions were dangled from the ceiling like spiders on a thread.

"Wow… there's so many…" reaching up on his tippy-toes, Naruto picked the first one he saw—a fox's mask. He placed the mask on his face and tilted his head to the side. "How do I look?"

"It's nice. Hides your face, though." pale digits wrapped around the white mask adorned with orange whiskers and narrowed eye slits off his love's face. He was greeted with a goofy smile and a rather chaste kiss before Naruto pulled back and ran to the other end of the store.

"Over, here! There's a box of toy swords and daggers!"

The raven had casually strolled over, though his heart constricted a little out of worry from the way Naruto was swinging his sword; a wild savage in every way. '_Right, maybe I shouldn't let him use any kunai or shuriken for tonight's training…' _Baby steps were certainly something Sasuke was taking into heavy consideration as he gently eased the sword out of Naruto's grasp and bonked him on the head with it.

"You're sixteen, not six. Act your age, Dobe."

"Ouch!" Naruto rubbed his abused head, sending a glare towards the smirking raven. "Why don't you act _your _age? You're seventeen but you act freaking seventy!"

Sasuke cocked a bored eyebrow while he placed the sword back with its family of different colored, foam weapons. "Seventy? Is that what you take me for? I didn't know a seventy-year-old could use his tongue like a pro…"

"Ugh, forget I said anything! Your cockiness just provokes me to punch a wall sometimes."

"Is that what you do when you're turned on?" Sasuke smirked. Oh yes, he was definitely vamping up the bastard-switch a few notches.

Naruto scowled, "I hate you." And just to further his point he picked up a plastic dagger and threw it right at Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke dodged it effortlessly.

"I love you, too." He said towards the back of a fuming Naruto stomping out of the store.

+Painful Reality+

_I remember the way it felt to be pinned under his weight… _

Three hours later, four stores, seven bags of rock candy bought, two paper lanterns torn to pieces, and one contented blonde following a pissed off raven later, and Naruto and Sasuke had finally come to the awaited part of the day—training.

"We're going to start off with some meditation first." Sasuke instructed. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground in the middle of the old training grounds he used while he was still a genin. Naruto had plopped down across from him, attempting to get into the same meditative position as he was in.

"Couldn't we have started off with some fighting first?" as usual, patience and sitting still was not a part of Naruto's DNA.

"At the level you're at right now?" the raven cracked open one eye, "I'm sorry to tell this to you, but you couldn't even handle an academy student right now. We'll start from the basics then work our way up."

"But I want to fight you now! This meditation thing isn't going to get us anywhere!" jumping up from his spot, Naruto brushed off the dirt from his orange pants and then got into some sort of defensive crouch. He motioned for Sasuke to attack. "Come at me, bro! I'll take you down in three seconds flat!"

'_He's an idiot,'_ Sasuke thought with a sigh, reading the obvious signs of determination in his lover's eyes. '_Well… he is asking for this, after all.' _Smirking to himself, Sasuke got up and assumed an attack position. Strong foot forward, body facing forward, one elbow bent and a fist calmly packed, Sasuke gave Naruto one last chance to choose meditation over confrontation.

"Just attack me already, Teme!"

"If you insist," Sasuke shrugged calmly.

In three seconds flat Sasuke had Naruto pinned to the ground, panting—not in the sexual way, of course—and looking up at him with a scowl.

"I freaking hate you."

_I remembered the way he would always treat me so gently… _

Sasuke smirked and kissed Naruto's forehead, leaving a burning sensation on the skin. "Can we meditate now, or would you like me to kick your ass again until you finally get it through your head that, right now, you can't defeat me?"

"Fine, we'll fucking meditate! But one day I _will _become stronger than you and it'll be _me _pinning _you _to the ground."

A small smile tugged at Sasuke's lips. "That's the dedication that will make you a great ninja one day, though I doubt you'll ever be able to pin me down. Now," with little effort he helped Naruto up to his feet. The two stood, arms stretched and hands still linked. Sasuke smiled softly—the only smile he would ever show, and it was all for Naruto—rubbing each and every one of Naruto's knuckles. "I'm sorry I had to treat you so roughly, but I really needed to get my point across through that thick head of yours. Meditation is an important aspect of being a ninja. It enables us to clear our mind and think rationally through dire situations. We won't take too long with it. Before you know it I'll show you basic weapons and fighting techniques, and then even chakra."

Naruto really wasn't a match for Sasuke. He could feel the bubbles of his prior irritation over losing so quickly pop one by one. He rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder. "Seriously. I can't win against you."

"One day you will… but we're taking baby steps. Now let's meditate."

+A Painful Reality: Three Days Later+

Stacks and stacks of paper were threatening to overflow the Yondaime's desk—as it did just about any other day. Minato pulled at the strands of his long, blonde hair and held in a long string of curse words that wanted to tumble out of his mouth. "Why did I ever take up this job again? I could be out on a mission! Or at home eating ramen instead of getting myself more paper cuts—Ouch! Son of a—"

"—Busy, Yondaime?" Sasuke had a rather amused expression painted on his face seeing as he walked in on one of the Yondaime's more, personal, moments.

"… No, not at all. I was just about to take a break, actually. You have perfect timing." Minato pushed himself away from the table and the huge stacks of disgusting paperwork, focusing all his attention on the raven before him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Naruto," the raven answered simply.

"How is he, by the way? It's almost been a year since he's arrived here and I'm hoping that's been enough time for him to adjust and get used to Konoha."

"He's great." There was a smile teasing the ends of Sasuke's lips. "Naruto really enjoys it here. He says for the first time in sixteen years he's actually… happy."

"That's good to hear, then. So, what about Naruto did you actually come to talk about?"

"Naruto… wants to become a ninja."

Minato cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Since when?"

"Well, I'm going to guess that he's been wanting to become one for a while, but getting used to this world and finally opening up about… personal things, must have pushed the thought back. He told me yesterday that he wanted me to train him."

"And you said yes?" Now Minato was becoming doubly intrigued.

"I can never say no to him," his smile grew a little brighter.

The Yondaime nodded, a small smile of his own shadowing his face. '_Cute,' _he thought idly, '_very cute.' _"Have you two sparred yet?"

"Once," Sasuke answered, "but that was only because Naruto was so adamant on me fighting with him and didn't want to meditate first."

"Yes, he seems like the type of person who would rather act first, think later."

"A slight downfall," Sasuke admitted truthfully, "but I see a lot of potential in him. With a little more work he'll become a great ninja."

There was adoration and pride shining through Sasuke's words. So much so that Minato could feel himself almost being swept along with Sasuke's enthusiasm. Almost. He hated being the man to bring people down from their highs but it had to happen sooner or later.

"You talk as if Naruto's going to be here long enough to even become a genin and then a chuunin. Or even a jounin if his skills are as great as you say. Naruto's appearance in this world is random, so we have to always consider the possibility that one day his disappearance will be random as well."

Sasuke clenched his fingers, packing them into fists. He knew that. He understood completely what the Yondaime was getting at. Naruto could leave at any moment, any second, that too much attachment would cause a greater deal of pain in the long wrong. Sasuke couldn't go back, though. He had already promised Naruto that they'd never be apart. No one would separate them, not even the horrible scissors of Reality could cut their bond. That's what he hoped. That's what he prayed.

Still didn't mean it didn't hurt to hear those words come from someone else's mouth.

The Yondaime sighed inwardly. He really hated being the bearer of bad news, but it was the truth. Honestly, he didn't want Naruto to leave either. The two had grown very close over the period of time Naruto was staying here. Whenever Itachi and Sasuke were sent on long missions, the little blonde would take up residence in his office—and on one occasion his house—the two had learned they had more in common than the realized.

"Sasuke…"

"Don't say anything," the raven seethed before mentally berating himself for losing control in front of the Yondaime. His emotions were so unstable lately… "I… apologize for stepping out of line with that last comment, Yondaime. I know what you're going to say, and you don't have to say anything. I already know…"

"Sasuke, please. No need for you to apologize to me. Actually, it's rather calming to know that even you can have a loss of control over your emotions." A wry smile crept onto Minato's face, "Reminds me that you actually _are _human under all that ice."

The raven made a face, one that caused the Yondaime to burst out in laughter. "Haha… you're hilarious, Yondaime." But he did have a point; Sasuke wasn't going to deny that.

"It's all because of Naruto, isn't it?" Minato cocked a blonde eyebrow in the air.

A smile bloomed on the raven's face. "It always is…"

+Painful Reality+

Later that day, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves in a field of grass bathed by the colors of a sunset, grasping and clawing at one another… tongues twirling, teeth biting, lips sucking and marking… Naruto mewled loudly as hot kisses were pressed across his neck and collarbone. Skilled fingers had danced up his shirt to tease his tanned stomach. His back arched, his mouth hung open. Sasuke was driving him onto the brinks of insanity…

_Next thing I remembered was that I turned into a ghost from his touch…_

It happened so fast, so expectantly, that the first time Sasuke thought it was just a trick from the lust clouding his mind. The second time, however, gave him just enough of a slap of shock to the face that he pulled back from the kiss abruptly.

"Hm… Sasuke?" Naruto looked down, confusion mixing in with lust. "What's wrong? You stopped. Don't tell me you can't a little nibbling?"

Sasuke's eyes were still wide with fear. His boyfriend who was straddling his lap was completely _see-through_. _'No…' _"It can't be…."

Reality was hitting hard, and it was hitting fast… Some people can't take it when it finally comes knocking on their door.

"It can't be what?" Naruto reached up to stroke Sasuke's face in hopes it would calm him down. Funny thing was… he barely had a hand. "W-What? What is this?" the moment they had both been dreading for had finally come… in small spasms that would later spiral into huge, turbulent, rifts.

"Naruto… you're…" Sasuke raised his hand, trying to clasp unto Naruto's translucent and shaking fingers… it went through completely. "You're disappearing…"

_And then I remembered that my days in this world truly were numbered._

* * *

><p>Numbered by one chapter... Plus an epilogue? Would you guys like one? Because I'm pretty sure I'm ending this on a sad note if I don't have an epilogue... mwahahaha! Anywho, PLEASE leave a review. It would make me very happy! :D Until tomorrow!<p> 


	5. Part Five Last Part

Another day, another chapter. Worked my ass off to get this finished. Well guys, this is the last part of the series. But there could be an epilogue if you all want it... Thanks to everyone who has added this to their favorites, alerts, and has reviewed! I love you all :).

**Warning: You'll love me in the beginning, then hate me. Such is life. ALSO! THERE IS SOME YAOI GOING ON HURRR. You have been warned. The M warning kicks into gear here.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own my love for Naruto 8). **

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality<strong>

**Part Five-Last Part**

_I remembered the way we treated everyday like it was our last, starting with our firsts. _

The first time Naruto was hugged, was eight months ago—by Sasuke Uchiha.

The first time Naruto was kissed was six months ago—by Sasuke Uchiha (Itachi doesn't count because it wasn't on the lips).

The first time he was loved, and said "I love you" back was three months ago—the receiver and giver was also Sasuke Uchiha.

Almost one whole year and Naruto had experienced a lot of firsts. In one whole year, Naruto had changed into a person he had never thought he could become. Someone with people who actually cared for him, a boyfriend, a father figure, an older brother… And now Fate was trying to tear him out of this world.

At the dinner table no one wanted to say what was truly on everyone's mind, but Naruto could see it in the way Itachi would steal "secretive" glances at him as if he was going to disappear at any moment, which was likely. Sasuke, however, was rather blunt about his apprehension and nervousness. He never let the blonde out of his sight no matter what, and he made it a rule that the two could never break contact.

"But what if I have to go to the bathroom?" it's always nice to throw a joke in or two during times of serious distress.

The only reply he got was a glare and Sasuke squeezing his waist even tighter. "Then I'll hold your hand as you pee. I don't' care. No matter what I'm not going to lose you."

+Painful Reality+

"Anything, yet?"

Itachi shook his head sadly, rolling up yet another unsuccessful scroll. "There's really not much we can do unless we know _how _Naruto entered into our world. Until then we're following loose threads with no ties."

"I don't need poetics, Aniki, I need answers!" with a lot of persuasion Itachi had managed to pry Sasuke from Naruto long enough for the two of them to search for a way to keep Naruto here in their world. It hadn't been easy, mind you. Sasuke was the definition of all kinds of stubbornness and had refused adamantly. If it weren't for Naruto saying he wanted some alone time with the Yondaime, Itachi was certain Sasuke would have surgically stitched himself to Naruto's hip by now.

"Well obviously those aren't just going to fall out of the sky," Itachi quipped while he rolled out another scroll on the ground. It was on another set of transportation and teleportation jutsus, their main starting points.

Frustration gnawed on every inch of skin, fiber of nerves, and strands of thoughts Sasuke owned as he threw another useless scroll at the wall, a slight trickle of flames following the end of the parchment. Three hours—away from Naruto—and nothing! Zip, zilch, freaking nada! Sasuke wanted to rip out his hair and lit it aflame. No, even better, he wanted to burn that gaudy looking couch Itachi had purposed simply because he _knew _Sasuke detested that shade of green.

"Don't even _think _about lighting up my couch, Sasuke." the older raven chastised as he sighed, rolled up the scroll he was looking at, and picked another one. "Your anger isn't going to get us anywhere right now."

"Why are you so calm!" Snap went a nerve inside the younger raven. "Naruto could leave right _now _and it's all because we're not coming up with anything that can keep him here with us! Do you _want _Naruto to disappear! Some older brother you are to—"

_SMACK! _The sound of skin hitting skin reverberated loudly through the air, leaving a heavy and thick silence to fill the space. Skin burned, and screamed. It itched and it tingled along Sasuke's cheek. Onyx eyes were wide with shock as they stared into the pools of narrowed, darker, eyes.

"Are you calm now? If not I don't mind slapping you again." Itachi reached out and stroked the skin he had slapped, a sad mist covered his eyes. "I don't want Naruto to leave us either and you know that. Freaking out and throwing hissy fits won't bring the answer to us any quicker. So let's calm down, think rationally, and narrow down our search. The faster we work together, the faster we'll have the jutsu that can reverse Naruto disappearing."

Frozen gears were slowly melting away as Sasuke found the ability to nod come back to him. His cheek still stung like hell, mind you, but Itachi always had a way of getting through to Sasuke when his emotions were about to go berserk. Grabbing a scroll, the younger raven silently read through the hand-signs and descriptions, "We're going to find it... right?"

There was so much desperation in his voice...

Itachi scoffed, looking through yet another scroll. "Are you seriously doubting our skills, Otouto." he smiled warmly and flicked his brother on the forehead, "Of course we're going to find it. Naruto's not going to be leaving us anytime soon."

If only that were true...

+Painful Reality+

_I remembered how chaos broke out in a matter of seconds..._

Everything was peaceful as Naruto and Minato shared their evening bowls of ramen together. Easy banter that had nothing to do with the anxieties plaguing both the blonde's minds floated through the air like a feather.

"No way!" strands of noodles spewed out from Naruto's mouth as bubbles of laughter escaped, "Sasuke did _not _do that... did he?"

Minato was wearing a wide grin that split half his face as he too found the younger blonde's enjoyment to be infectious. "He did! I was pretty shocked too but you should have seen his expression... priceless!"

Naruto was dying... again. Hands clutching his aching sides, tears rolled down the blonde's face as he pounded the wooden table with his fists. "Who would have thought Teme had _that _sort of face?"

"It's a once in a blue moon thing, I guess." the two shared random bursts of giggles over the prospect of Sasuke ever making such a face at the thought of seeing his masked teacher's face. Just trying to picture the huge white circles and squiggly mouth on the raven's face was way too much to handle for the blonde right now and he completely lost it... again.

Laughter was such good medicine.

Until bad news came to ruin your high, of course.

"Yondaime," an ANBU appeared from the shadows wearing a bird mask. She bowed before addressing the Yondaime once more. "There's trouble on the outer perimeter of the village..."

The Yondaime was already out of his seat, laughter forgotten and thrown to the curb. "What happened?"

"Demon outbreak, sir."

_Everything turned into utter Hell after that. _

The first demon was in the form of a fox, bathed in black ink and dotted with crimson eyes. It's first victim was a ninja on watch guard duty—five more would fall by its claws. Three more demons followed after that one. They were much smaller, but twice as deadly. They raided the village. Ravaging stores and attacking the poor souls who had never made it to the safe hideouts in time...

In total, there were ten fox demons with a consecutive number of tails. The strongest one had ten tails, and was the biggest and the leader of the pack.

They were all made to tear Reality apart, to shreds. To make holes. To create destruction. Destroy, destroy, destroy...

+Painful Reality+

Cramped. That's all Naruto could think of as he was holed away deeper and deeper down the stairs into the many hideouts located in the village. Granted, he really _didn't _want to stay here while Sasuke, Itachi, Minato, Hidan, and all the other ninjas he knew and had grown fairly close to were off to battle powerful demons. He wanted to be in the fight, too! It was a stupid notion, since his chakra was barely controlled enough to preform powerful attacks, but both Sasuke and Minato had verified that he _did _have the essence that all ninjas carried and could fully utilize it with the proper training.

Sure, right now his skills were a little under par with the rest—that was Naruto being optimistic—but over the course of nine months he had finally felt _accepted _in this village. No longer an outsider everyone avoided because they didn't know who he was, where he came from, and what his purpose was. This village was his home; the greatest he ever had. And he wasn't about to let overgrown fox demons take that away from him!

Pushing against the flow of the crowd, Naruto tried to fight his way through to the entrance. _'Gotta get out... Gotta at least try and fight!' _a hand on his forearm pulled him back into the meshing sea of people and flush against someone's chest.

Red eyes peered down at him worriedly, "And just where the hell do you think you're going, Dobe?"

Naruto whirled around to stare face to face with his red-eyed boyfriend. _'His Sharingan's activated... Sasuke never switches over unless it's really serious.' _He gulped back his hesitation and steeled his eyes in a glare. "You're not going to stop me so you might as well let me go."

"So you can get killed?" Sasuke scoffed, "Not a chance."

"But I can fight!"

"No Naruto, you can't. Those demons out there will rip you to _shreds. _They've already taken down four of our best ninja in the span of three hours." he gripped onto Naruto's arms tighter. Fear slightly mixed with his words. "I don't want the same happening to you."

Naruto understood why Sasuke was uneasy about sending him out there to fight. A small—rational—part of his mind agreed with the raven whole-heartedly. He wasn't up to par with the other ninjas. He could barely stabilize his own chakra for crying out loud! But he still wanted to fight, and nothing was going to stop him from getting out there to help. One look into those anguish and worried-filled crimson eyes, though, almost made Naruto rethink his actions... _almost_.

"Sasuke..." he reached up to stroke the raven's cheek. Sasuke leaned into the touch. "I'm sorry but I—"

Explosions, fire, screams, and howls were the jarring orchestra that cut Naruto off. Naruto was frozen to the spot and Sasuke had stiffened—only for a little bit—before pressing a searing, last minute kiss on Naruto's and pushing him further back into the hideout.

"Don't move. Don't even _breathe_. I'll be right back." with one fleeting glance over his shoulder, red and blue mixed in an electric meeting of purple before the raven dashed out into the chaos.

The blonde was left, shell-shocked and in the midst of blurring people trying to move further and further away from the destruction. Shaking his head, Naruto had made up his mind and firmly stuck to his resolve. He fished through his orange pockets and pulled out a kunai the Yondaime had given him earlier infused with special chakra that would, hopefully, give Naruto the boost he needed to amp up the battle to his benefit for a limited amount of time.

"_Ten minutes," _Minato had warned after their little training session four days ago _before _time had seemed to be slipping away. _"You better win by then or run like _hell_." _

Naruto smirked broadly as he clutched onto the handle of the kunai. "Ten minutes is all I need," he whispered. With one last huff he went off into the treacherous mist, being led by the strings of screams, roars, and fighting.

+Painful Reality+

_Next thing I remembered was excruciating pain..._

It hadn't taken long for Naruto to find a fox demon. The thing had practically jumped on him after four or five minutes of searching through the dense fog covering the rubble, bodies, and fighting going on in the tunnels. Luckily for Naruto this demon was one of the smallest of the pack. On the downside it was the nastiest and most unpredictable fox—a dangerous combination since Naruto more than once had gotten a rather nasty scratch from it's black-tipped claws.

"Fuck," crouched on the ground, Naruto felt up the now wet, blood-stained front of his shirt. _'That's going to be a hard one to explain to Sasuke." _Oh please, he was already screwed from the start for a intense lecture from the raven.

The fox demon was crouched with its teeth bared, soulless eyes narrowed. Its tail whipped around madly, lashing at any inch of ground or human it could find. One slap from its tail could cut a solid rock in half.

_Nine minutes and thirty-six seconds..._

Naruto was the first one to make a move, he duplicated himself—a trick he had learned from Sasuke—and had the clone attack upfront while he caught the demon off-guard. The plan would have worked too, if the fox demon hadn't jumped out of the at the last minute and strangled the clone into oblivion.

_Eight minutes and twenty-one seconds..._

The battled raged on heavily. Blue chakra surrounded the blade and coursed through Naruto's body, but as the minutes raged by he could feel himself growing incredibly weaker. _'It's strong... I'll give it that. I don't know if I'll be able to kill it with the time limit I have...' _Naruto needed a plan, and he needed one _fast. _Time was running out...

_Seven minutes and forty-seven seconds..._

Claws clashed with blades, the force so powerful both good and demonic chakra whirled around violently, lashing at the combatants and sending them back a good few feet. Both Naruto and the demon met the ground in a painful hello. Stars shot through the blonde's vision and he had to hold back the urge to hurl.

_'Gotta... get up...' _

_Five minutes and twenty-four seconds..._

He had a plan. Hit hard and hit fast. Naruto had been lucky and gotten a few hits, but the demon was becoming fueled by its rage. Demonic chakra exploded, coating the creature in a reddish-black hue. It snarled viciously and lashed out its enlarged claw towards the blonde. Naruto was barely able to dodged it and as a result was pinned to the wall by the massive claw.

A horrible, ear-splitting wail escaped Naruto's mouth.

_Three minutes and eighteen seconds... _

Pain burned through his veins. The claws sunk in deeper and deeper into his skin, cutting his flesh, leaving him bleeding. The world blurred. He could feel the energy being drained from the blade at a painfully slow rate...

_'Stop... pain... I need too...' _With a grunt, Naruto shakily tightened his grip on his kunai and raised it up high. His wrist shook, but he managed to keep it steady long enough to line it up with the demon's wrist. Growls and snarls floated in the air, mixing with Naruto's screeches and grunts of pain. But the blonde was determined...

_Two minutes and fifteen seconds..._

Using all the energy he had left, he flared up the chakra around his blade and slammed it through the demon's wrist. The fox demon howled in pain and instantly retracted its claw from the blonde's chest. Naruto sighed and slumped to the ground, panting heavily and feeling exhausted. That had done it. He had exhausted the time and his chakra, and now he was depleted. Once the fox demon got over the pain, it would attack him. The pain was messing up his senses, blurring the world and mixing all the colors...

"Sas...uke..." he coughed out, blood dribbling down his lips.

He felt something pulling at him...

The feeling coaxed him.

Lulled him.

Dragged him by the hair...

The demon had fully recovered and was now baring its fangs for one last attack. Time seemed to slow as Naruto watched with half-lidded, blue hazed eyes as the demon charged for him. For a fleeting moment, Naruto wondered if he was actually going to die here. Die in the pool of his mistake for not listening to Sasuke. At this last moment, he felt like an idiot for thinking he was strong enough to take on a demon when he wasn't even strong enough handle the tiniest one!

_'I'm sorry Sasuke... I should have listened.' _a small smile formed on his lips at the thought of Sasuke telling him "I told you so, Dobe" with that gorgeous smirk no his face... He would really miss that smirk, and his laugh, his smile... his eyes...

And when he thought the world was finally going to bleed into darkness...

"Naruto!" Lightning crackled through the sky, the sound of fur being singed to a crisp filled the air. The fox demon fell to a charred crisp on the ground. Sasuke panted heavily, the anxiety blending with the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had almost been too late. When he came back to the hideout from killing most of the fox demons, he hadn't seen Naruto in the group. Instantly Sasuke knew Naruto had disobeyed his orders, and honestly he wasn't that surprised.

That did nothing to ease the fear caking in his heart...

In a matter of seconds he was at Naruto's side, clutching the boy close to his chest as he tried to calm down his heart threatening to explode. "You idiot!" he cried, feeling the blonde's chest. There was blood coating his fingers. Sasuke choked back a sob and buried his face in the crook of Naruto's neck. One hand held onto the blonde's wrist... searching... searching...

"I can't lose you now, Naruto. I can't..."

There was a pulse... and something more...

Translucent skin and fuzzy edges...

"Naruto, no, _please!" _Sasuke was desperate now, trying to cling on to _anything _that was his blonde. Tears were threatening to slip. His control was cracking. His heart was slowing breaking. "Don't you dare leave me! Don't you fucking dare! Naruto!"

The funny thing about being tugged is that, if you do not wish to, you do not have to follow that tug. You can resist it. You can fight it. And... you can break from it.

+Painful Reality: Four Days Later+

_The next thing I remembered was waking up in his arms..._

Four days later and Naruto had finally awoke from his sleep. And to a nice surprise at that. There was a lovely little raven stuck to his sad, his adorably mop of blueish black hair sprawled in static-induced directions. Naruto found that his ability to smile was weak, but was still there as he shifted slightly in Sasuke's grip.

_'He's so cute when he sleeps... Ow,' _Naruto frowned as he looked down at his bandaged chest. _'Oh yeah... that fox demon got me pretty good.' _the memories of that battle flooded his mind, leaving wave after wave of self-loathing in its wake. _'If only I had listened... Damn it!' _he sighed and glanced at the sleeping raven once more. His smile grew a little brighter. "I'm glad you saved me," he whispered, running his shaking hand through the raven's hair.

"About time you woke up, Dobe." came the sleep-induced words.

Naruto scoffed softly. "Squeeze me any tighter and you'll break my ribs, Teme."

"Not letting go," Sasuke muttered and snuggled deeper into the raven's chest. "Never letting go..."

For some reason, Naruto thought those words meant more than just referring to this moment. "Thank you," he whispered softly, using the energy he had left to kiss the raven's forehead.

The skin was warm from where it was kissed. Sasuke cracked open one blurry, onyx eye. "Hey... Dobe."

"Hm?"

"Promise me something?"

Naruto opened his eyes—he didn't even realize he had closed them before. "Yeah?"

"When I tell you to do something, do it, and don't ever go back on it. Promise?"

A sigh was followed by another small smile. "Yeah, Sasuke. I promise."

+Painful Reality+

_And then I remembered his touch. Searing and hot... marking me all over._

In celebration of Naruto's swift recovery, a week Sasuke had finally decided to take the final step in his relationship with Naruto. He felt it was the right time to do it since there was no more disappearance scares. Oh how naïve he was to think it was the end... The start of the day started out with a few make-out sessions in bed and then eating breakfast in bed—Naruto's dream come true. They spent the afternoon in the park enjoying the midsummer's day and the cotton candy clouds floating in the sky.

When nighttime finally rolled in, though, that's when the beast was unlocked.

After a full course dinner at one of Naruto's favorite restaurants in town, Sasuke had led the blonde back home where they walked up the stairs littered in rose petals with floating candles on the walls to their bedroom.

"S-Sasuke... this is..." Naruto was chocked by how much time and effort Sasuke had used to make this night special. The lights were dimmed with the exception of amber-glowing candles scattered around the room. Brilliant, shining, crystals were dangling from the ceiling in the shapes of star crystals to represent how Sasuke had found Naruto in a field bathed with stars...

"Speechless?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. He was rather pleased he had surprised Naruto like this, it helped settle down the nervousness pooling in his stomach. "Come on," he coaxed softly, motioning Naruto to the bed. He hit the mattress first, pulling Naruto onto his lap where he attached himself to the blonde's lower lip. He nibbled and he sucked before dragging his tongue into Naruto's mouth and leaving him absolutely _breathless._

Naruto pulled back with his cheeks painted pink. "A-Are we...?"

Sasuke nodded, kissing Naruto on the forehead, down to the bridge of his nose, and then to his whiskered cheeks. "If you're ready, then we will. If not... we can just kiss and hold each other all night." he smiled warmly. The smile was only meant for Naruto. "I'll do anything you want me to."

Nodding, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and initiated a passionate kiss. "I'm ready..." he whispered against Sasuke's parted lips.

Sasuke had Naruto on his back, peppering kisses along his collar bone and neck, faster than you could blink. The raven was rather clumsy at such a raw and intense act of love, but if it was Naruto he would do his best to make his partner feel absolutely pleasure. He took his time, sucking on the pulsing vein on blonde's neck as he slipped his hands underneath his shirt. He lifted Naruto's black shirt up to his chest, revealing two, pert dusky brown nipples.

The raven licked his lips... leaned forward... and bit one.

"Ah!" Naruto moaned out of surprise, arching his back to the touch.

"Did that hurt?" Sasuke asked, pulling back.

The blonde shook his head furiously. "No... it felt good. I was just... surprised..."

Sasuke smirked and kissed around Naruto's tummy. "I'll make you feel even better soon."

Clothes joined the floor seconds later. Naked skin rubbed and brushed against each other sensually. Moans drifted in the air as both the raven and the blonde took turns touching and kissing every inch of skin they could get to. Their hips meshed and molded together as they ground their erections against each other. Naruto threw his head back, eyes rolled, as moan after strangled moan escaped his lips.

"S-Sasuke... Goood... so good..." pleasure rocked his body to the core. It made his legs shake, his chest heave erratically, and his stomach tightened as he felt his release come so much closer...

And then Sasuke stopped the glorious friction.

"Wha...?" dazed and confused, Naruto watched with glazed blue eyes as the raven searched for something inside the bedroom counter.

"Sorry," a kiss followed the apology. "I thought we would need this." shaking the bottle of lube in his hand, Sasuke smirked devilishly. "I'm not small you know, and I don't want to hurt you..."

Naruto glared half-heartedly, "You're such a bastard."

Chuckling, Sasuke uncapped the lube and poured a generous amount of it on his fingers. For a trial run, he took Naruto's cock in his lubed hand and stroked it furiously. The affect he wanted was immediate. Naruto was reduced to nothing more but a panting, moaning mess. With a satisfied smirk, Sasuke released the blonde's cock and trailed his fingers southward...

One finger slid in first. The blonde withered and groaned in pain, tears clotting on the sides of his eyes. Sasuke was quick to kiss the tears away.

"Just bear with it," he whispered in the blondes in as a second one followed the first, creating a scissoring motion.

It was a lot easier said then done, but Naruto started to feel the pleasure buried beneath the pain of having Sasuke's fingers inside of him...

A third finger was added and Naruto couldn't hold back the howl of euphoria that burst through his mouth.

All too soon Sasuke's fingers left his body. Naruto whimpered. The sudden emptiness was a little unnerving...

"You want it that badly?" Sasuke asked huskily, lining up his cock with Naruto's entrance.

"Mmm... Bastard... Don't ask me questions you already know the answer to!"

The raven smirked, "That's all I needed to know." Then he slammed forward.

"Ahhhhh!" it hurt. The pain shot up his spine, twirled in his stomach, and forced tears out of Naruto's eyes. For a slight second he thought of his uncle doing the same thing to him... but then he remembered that the person towering over him wasn't his uncle... but Sasuke.

The love of his life.

"I love you, Naruto." Sasuke said in-between kisses as he started to thrust inside his blonde.

Naruto looked up at him with teary blue eyes. "I love you too, Sasuke."

The raven pulled out slowly until only the tip of his cock was left before snapping back in again. Screams followed shortly afterward, descending into whimpers that soon transformed into grunts as the pace slowly become more and more pleasurable. There was still the pain, but it was dulled by the euphoria dancing through his veins. They had set a rhythm, slow and steady, but soon that had snapped along with Sasuke's self-control. Naruto was rather tight after all.

In and on, in and out, their dancing made the bed squeak in protest. Grunts and moaned filled the air. Sweat was caked on their bodies...

They were both so close...

"S-Sasuke," Naruto gasped, feeling his orgasm approach. "I... I'm cumming...!" white fluid exploded against Naruto's chest as he rode out his orgasm, moans and curses tumbling out of his lips.

Sasuke followed shortly afterwords, pushed over the edge by Naruto's expression and his hot, inner walls clenching around him tightly. He looked down at Naruto, his arms shaking and threatening to tumble, but he needed to know one thing.

"How was it?"

Even in the afterglow Naruto couldn't help but bark out a laugh at Sasuke's cocky expression. _'I'll let him have his moment.' _"It was amazing, Teme." chuckling, Naruto stretched out his hands to envelop his raven...

And all he came up with was empty air.

_The next thing I remembered was the white bed sheets and white walls..._

His room was no longer there, but a hospital room. His bed was no longer there, but a gurney. IV's stuck to his outstretched arm and blinding nights flooded his vision. Pure white, a slap to the face. A jarring note, something that nearly made Naruto's heart give out.

Outstretched arms reaching nothing more but the hospital lights...

_And then I remembered, that the world I was living in was only an Illusion once I woke up to my Reality. _

**A Painful Reality**

* * *

><p>Well, we've reached the end of the road here. Naruto awakes from his Illusion into this Reality he thought he'd never have to see again... when I was first writing this story I already had this type of ending in mind and was like "I HAVE TO USE THIS!" Now I'm am leaning towards an epilogue, but first I'd like to hear your opinions. Is this ending suitable enough for you, or would you like some explanations in an epilogue ;)? Oh, oh, was the sex okay too? I hope so. I didn't want to make it <em>too <em>long but not too short either... Anywho! **Reviews, please! They make me uber happy (:!**

Till tomorrow? (; I'll leave this as in-progress until I know and figure out what I'm doing.


	6. Epilogue

Welp, here's your epilogue.

**Warning: Ehhhh, you decide ;). Naruto's POV the whole time. Sorry if it's OOC.**

**Disclaimer: Really now, do I own Naruto? Psssh. Hell yeeee-I mean no. **

Enjoyy! C:

* * *

><p><strong>A Painful Reality<strong>

**Epilogue**

_I remember everything._

_The light, and waking up in a field bathed with stars. _

_Voices that, at first, sounded so foreign became the voices I had familiarized and grown close with._

_I remember opening my eyes and seeing _him. _There was a cold steeliness in his voice at first... that warmed away slowly, but surely._

_I remember the summer days I spent on the porch swing._

_The people I met, especially Hidan, Minato, Itachi, and Sasuke. _

_I remember letting Sasuke into my world. Allowed him to know the darkest secrets that stained my heart and mind._

_I remember the heat... the Love. I was never in love before I met him._

_I remember the time when we both knew my days were numbered... I was disappearing. _

_No, I've disappeared. Completely._

_But I remember his warmth, his touch. I remember every detail and aspect of him. That will never go away, no matter how much they want me to forget and let go. _

_I can't let go of my Reality. No matter how much of an Illusion it really was._

+Painful Reality+

When I woke up, it was to blinding lights and worried voices. For a moment I thought I was back in my world with Sasuke and Itachi, just like the first day we met. I was dead wrong. Looming above me were white coats and my old teacher, Iruka-sensei. He looked relieved as did the white coats. I was sure I looked confused. They weren't supposed to be here. Where was I?

I try to open my mouth, but it's sore and nothing will come out.

"Naruto!" relief flooded out of Iruka-sensei's words. I still don't know why he's here. I still don't know why _I'm _here. Where's Sasuke? "Oh thank God!" he's on the ground crying, I had no idea that for the past eleven months he'd been crying. Iruka-sensei was being held up by someone else I know: Kakashi-sensei. Why was he here, too?

Kakashi-sensei looks at me, shakes his head, and smiles. He's not wearing his mask. "You've put us through a lot of trouble, Naruto-kun."

Have I? I don't remember these people ever being involved...

I feel the lines blurring as the doctors do things around me. Something about checking my stats, or whatever. I don't care. I feel myself slipping. Tugged under the water of my subconscious. Maybe if I sleep, I'll see him. The person I want to see. The world I want to wake up in. Not this twisted Reality I've thrown away.

Not in these blinding, white lights.

+Painful Reality+

I was pulled up thirty minutes later. And when I opened my eyes, I saw my twisted Reality, not the world I wanted to be in. Tears pooled in my eyes. Iruka-sensei was at my bedside and grasped my hand. I didn't want him to touch me...

"Hey... I know the dreams must be painful, Naruto, but you're safe now." Safe... what? I'm not safe here... "Your uncle will never bother you again. I made sure of that."

For a fleeting second, I'm stupid and think that somehow I've managed to come back to my new Reality. But I haven't. My reality doesn't have white walls, white ceilings, white... everything. Once more I try to open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Why can't I talk?

Iruka-sensei can probably read my confusion and searches for something in his backpack. A notebook and a pen. He hands them to me. "Here. If you can write, use these."

If I can write...?

It's difficult, trying to grasp simple objects makes my arms wiggle like jelly and want to give out. Iruka-sensei once more steps in and steadies my hand. I have the urge to slap him off, but I have questions that needed to be answered.

"_Where am I?"_

"The hospital," he answers.

"_Why am I here?"_

He gulps back hesitation. His eyes don't meet mine for a second, and briefly I wonder if I really _want _to know that answer. But I know I do. I won't be able to achieve at least a sliver of peace if I don't know.

"I... You were absent from school for almost a month. When I asked the other students if they had seen you, they all shook their head and said no. A few mentioned that you skipping school for a week or two was nothing new. But you were gone for a _month_. I knew something was wrong, so I went to the principal and asked if I could have your address..." he swallows again, "When I found you... you were in some back alleyway behind your house, naked, bloodied, and bruised..."

"_My uncle..." _the words bleed through the paper. I poked a hole writing the letter 'N'.

Iruka-sensei nodded. "I immediately called the ambulance with you in my arms. And then I went to call 911. The ambulance and cops surrounded your house in a matter of minutes. The Paramedics tried to pry you from the arms, bombarding me with questions, but I refused to let you go. They could do nothing more but let me ride with them. Later, when the cops had finally broken down your door they found your uncle passed on the floor with four beer bottles scattered haphazardly. It didn't take a genius for them to figure out what happened."

"_Then what...?" _This wasn't making sense to me. I remember the beating. That would never leave me. It would always haunt the back of my mind with shivers of pain and slurs. But _Sasuke _had found me. Not Iruka. I was in Sasuke's room and met him and Itachi. I was never abandoned in a alleyway, but was lying in a field of grass...

He gripped my hand free of the pen tightly. He was shaking again, holding back tears. "At first the doctors told me you wouldn't make it. I told them they were wrong, that you were a fighter and you'd definitely make it through." Iruka-sensei swallowed shakily. "Eleven months you were out, Naruto... Almost a whole year..."

Eleven months ago I was in a new Reality. Iruka-sensei says for Eleven months I've been... "out". I'm a little shaken. My blood is pumping furiously. My breathing increases, and for a minute I thought I was going to hyperventilate. Iruka-sensei catches on and rubs my back soothingly. It helps; barely. I still need to know one thing though...

"_Where's Sasuke?" _I have the urge to add a heart at the end, but I hold back. The heart's already drawn on my chest and it's bleeding...

Iruka-sensei looks at the paper, perplexed. I look back at him, wondering if he's trying to go through the extensive lists of student's names. Moments later he looks at me with silent pity and shakes his head.

"Sorry, Naruto... but I don't know anyone who goes by the name of Sasuke."

My heart bleeds just a little more, a trickle turning into a flood. And just when I thought Reality couldn't stab me any harder.

+Painful Reality+

"He's insane."

"He's recuperating!"

"Iruka, it's been _two _months and he has yet to talk to any of us about what happened! You can't tell me you think he doesn't have a few screws loose up in there."

"Naruto's been going through a tough time, Kakashi. We don't know how much this last experience with his uncle has put him through. Give him some time, he'll open up."

"The doctors say he created a world of his own during the eleven months he was out. A safe haven, they called it. It was his mind's way of barring the pain he felt from the last attack. And now he's psychologically influenced by that now! Sasuke, Itachi, Hidan, Minato... all those people aren't _real_!"

It's the same old conversation they have. Kakashi's playing the side that calls me insane. Iruka's on "my side" claiming that I need time to heal. I think they're both wrong. I'm not insane, but I'm not going to come out to frolic in a field of flowers. I know what I lived through. I know what I've seen. Sasuke, Itachi, _everyone_ was real. That world was real. The Love... my heart constricts a little. You can't forge Love. You can't twist it and bend it your whim. It's an emotion that proves everything is real. And I've told them that, numerous times. Kakashi simply shakes his head and Iruka pities me.

I've stopped talking after that.

My newly legalized caretakers are in the kitchen. Iruka's probably making dinner in the hopes I'll eat it and Kakashi has most likely changed the subject so he can get in his pants. I try to stomach his food. It's good, but I'm never hungry. Walking in on Kakashi and Iruka, though, that's something I don't need to see...

I've taken up sitting on the window seat overlooking the moving city below Iruka's apartment. I'll sit there from sunrise to sunset... waiting. I want Sasuke to burst through the window, wrap me up in his wings, and take me away. He hasn't come yet. My mind is telling me to move on, that it was all some warped up world it had created to hide the pain. It really needs to shut up. My heart won't give up. It beats at the thought of seeing Sasuke again. His arrogant smile, the cute twitch of his lips when he smirks... his warmth. It wants it all. I want it all, back again. By my side.

Kakashi finally peels me off the window seat, an amiable smile painted on his face. I know all he wants to do right now is slap some "sense" into me.

"Come on. You can look at the little ants below after dinner. Iruka's made your favorite; pork chops."

Despite everything, my stomach curls in delight and my mouth drools at the thought of eating pork chops. Maybe I am a little hungry...

At the dinner table Iruka forces a handful of vegetables on my plate.

"You're eating _all _of it, mister." he waves his wooden spoon dangerously. "I don't want to hear one complaint."

Fine then, I'll complain inwardly. I'll even make a show of moving my brussel sprouts around with my fork, just for kicks. Sasuke was the only one who could get me to eat vegetables. That will never change.

As usual, the conversation during dinner is light. Iruka and Kakashi share witty and hidden innuendos in their words and I just sit back in listen, eating idly. Sasuke's on my mind. He's always on my mind. Kakashi and Iruka no longer sit across from me, but Sasuke and Itachi. Even Minato's there with us, working in the kitchen to create his world-famous meal. Sasuke's smiling at me and makes every attempt to touch me. I let him, because I love it when he touches me. Itachi looks disgusted by our affection, but I know deep down he's happy for us.

Those people disappear in a wisp of smoke, and once again Iruka and Kakashi sit before me, looking a little worried.

Iruka looks at me a little longer, I look back. He clears his throat and smiles weakly. "So how was school today?"

I shrug, "Same old."

"You went to the roof during lunch." Iruka no longer questions my actions. He states them, hoping I'll take the bait. I do, though it's only sometimes.

"Yep."

"Was Sasuke there?"

Kakashi shoots him a look, "Don't encourage him!" he whispers. I hear him perfectly.

I smile sadly, "Nope. And Kakashi, I know you think I'm crazy. And that's fine. You can think that way. I'll stay crazy for as long as it takes. If being a little loopy will bring Sasuke back... then hand me a straight jacket."

The words fill the room and land heavily on the floor. Kakashi's visible eyes is widened before dulling down in hopelessness.

Iruka looks at me sadly before getting up from the table to wash his plate. They don't say anything, but their actions speak it all.

They pity me.

+Painful Reality+

Lunch time rolls by and I spend the thirty minutes I have on the roof top. No one's ever there except for me, and the wind. The wind is always the same, no matter what Reality I live in. It's a simple constant that has yet to abandon me, and that makes me feel a little more stable. Spread out on the ground, I stretch out my limbs, extending even my fingers, as I look up at the sky. Cotton clouds roll across the sky, blocking the sun.

I absentmindedly wonder if Sasuke's looking at the same sky...

A speck of black brushes passed my vision. The glint of red eyes catch me next. My heart constricts as I abruptly sit up to stare at the figure standing near the fence. He's dressed in my school uniform, a white t-shirt and a pair of black pants. His onyx hair is being pushed by the wind as he glances down at grounds below. I swallow. My body shakes.

It can't be...

He notices my staring, and turns around. It's slow as time drips and drips to build up the suspense. A smirk, the same smirk. It makes my heart pound.

I'm crawling... then I stand up and walk... my feet trip as I break into a run. His smirk turns into a smile as he welcomes me with open arms. I run into them and latch on tightly, afraid to let go. Afraid he'll disappear again.

"Is it really you?" my voice is so hoarse. I want to look at him, but my eyes betray me. "Please... please tell me I'm not crazy! That this all isn't some dream I've come up with! You're really here, right...?"

Warm arms wrap around my midsection and pull me close. The owner of my heart buries his face into the crook of my neck and inhales deeply. I feel myself melting into him...

"Dobe, you were always crazy." he chuckles and I feel warm lips press against my skin. "I'm sorry I took so long to find you, but I'm here now. And I'll never leave your side."

My eyes finally open. Blue clashes roughly with onyx. I feel tears slide down my cheek. "Promise...?"

His lips seal his promise in burning heat.

_I remember the day we finally connected under the sky, wrapped tightly in our embrace. There are times where Reality can be cruel, rip your soul to shreds, give you something incredibly only to tear it from you in the end. And sometimes, Reality has a heart. It'll make your dreams come true. It'll bring your other half back to your side. _

_They can call me crazy. They can call me insane. But I know this Reality is not an Illusion. Our love is real, and no one will take me away from him again. _

* * *

><p>Hmmm... so was the world Naruto spent 11 months in real, or just some figment of his imagination? Is Sasuke real, or just another image his mind cooked up because it's a bitch like that? I'm curious to see what you guys think. Many thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved, and added this to their alerts! I really just wanted to post this story and get it out of my documents folder where it was collecting cobwebs... haha C: I hope you all enjoyed <strong>A Painful Reality!<strong>

Seee, I can do happy endings, yus! Leave a review, please. Lots of love (:


End file.
